Torres destroys Chelsea

London - Fernando Torres returned to form in stunning fashion as his double-strike inspired Liverpool's 2-0 win over champions Chelsea.

Torres had scored just twice this season before Chelsea's visit to Anfield, fuelling talk that his lacklustre displays were a sign he is keen to leave the Reds.

But the Spanish striker was back to his predatory best as he netted with a cool finish from Dirk Kuyt's pass in the 11th minute and then curled a brilliant second past Petr Cech from the edge of the penalty area just before half-time.

Those two lethal finishes condemned Chelsea to their second league defeat this season and left Carlo Ancelotti's league leaders just two points ahead of second placed Manchester United.

Liverpool's victory extended their recent revival to four successive wins in all competitions and lifted Roy Hodgson's team into mid-table.

AFP

Comments

Jacques - 2010-11-07 21:11

oh well, you win some, you lose some. Well done to the Liverpudlians, enjoy the win, but remember who is still top of the table. Up the Blues!!! :)

IZ IT - 2010-11-08 06:35

HE MAY NOT BE FIRING ON ALL PISTONS BUT HE IS WITHOUT DOUBT THE BEST STRIKER IN WORLD SOCCER.KUYT IS JUST A POORR WORK MACHINE WITH GUTS THAT EVERY COACH LOVES.AND GERRARD IS JUST THE BEST FOOTBALLER WITH MESSI..COME ON THE REDS LETS PROVE ALL WRONG AND GET IN THAT TOP 4 !

Never Walk Alone - 2010-11-08 06:59

Maybe Ancelotti was too intent on marking Gerrard - and forgot about the most lethal striker in the EPL ! LFC showing the old fighting spirit - but still a long way to go before there are any sighs of relief. Once again Liverpool come to MU aid in helping them beat our league records ! Come on Mancs we have been struggling for the last 2 seasons - and still its an uphill grind for you to better us - must be eating you up - this tension heh ?

Muntu - 2010-11-08 07:16

you will never walk alone. one more win we'll be 4th

A(N)ON - 2010-11-08 08:11

@ NWA what has this win got to do with ManU? If your comments were true then surely your team would have put up a reasonable showing last season against the Blues when you beloved captain passed the ball from the half way line to Drogba to open the scoring? Liverpool needed this win more than Man U does and I personally am glad that they won - it is good for the EPL to see them firing. Lets hear it from the Hodgson haters...

pran - 2010-11-08 08:21

Another gambling pay off. Come people check the stats Chelsea has nit lost anything.

AL - ManU - 2010-11-08 08:53

Thanks Pool!!! To be honest, I predicted the score to be the other way around but you played well and Torres has finally woken up.

Harold - 2010-11-08 09:03

And the London press were waxing lyrical about Chelsea. Chelsea are beatable as United, City and now Liverpool have shown.

Boris - 2010-11-08 09:52

I was a pleasure watching "The Reds" back to their best and now for the top four.

Wes - 2010-11-08 10:14

@ Never Walk Alone -
What did you think of Lucas' performance?? He was voted as Man Of the Match ahead of Torres.
Lucas has misplaced eight passes in the last four games. That, in any league and at any level, is phenomenal. The Lack of praise deafening!!

Predictable this becomes about Man Utd... And to call Torres the best striker in the world/ EPL on the basis of the odd good game is a little premature. Well done Torres and Liverpool. Great to see you start to play to your potential.

Shankly's Kin - 2010-11-08 10:44

Bitter-Sweet, I guess. Great that we won and we're climbing the table, bad that Uncle Woy is still in charge. At least he showed some tactical nous this time around. Not so sure it would have been as easy had Essien played. Well done to Lucas for getting in Chelsea's faces. That's what's been missing all season. The opposition always seemed to steam roll our midfield. Glad that Woy has seen that an attacking midfielder is way better than his specialist CDM Poulsen. We should keep going like this, or the last couple of wins will mean nothing. Woy, please continue to make me eat humble pie, or else many of us will still call for the axe. Oh, and Torres was never off form, Woy just realized that he has to play to the strengths of the players he has at his disposal, and finally pushed play a bit higher up the pitch so that Nando would have some support. Nando is great, but he cannot take on the opposition back line alone. That is essentially what was expected of him in the early stages of this season, 2 defensive lines in our half, with Nando being the only one in attack. Glad the old man saw the error of his ways. YNWA Liverpudlians.

Lamps_8 - 2010-11-08 12:00

What can I say,when you good you good and Liverpool,Were good

The Devil @ IZ IT - 2010-11-08 13:09

dude, please dont ever mention messi and gerrard in the same sentence. Gerrard is world class, no doubt, but Messi is not from this world. Even when ronaldo was playing for united, i couldnt put him in the same category as messi. Good win for pool but i think chelsea was far from a full strength side yesterday. Man u, still unbeaten in all competitions with "babies" in the team, now that is something to be proud of. GGMU! cant wait for the man man derby! its gonna be a cracker!

Red Manc - 2010-11-08 13:45

Thank you Torres - now you will defintely be coming to Utd in January .
Liverpool can go back to their mediocre standard of football now , the bottom of the table is calling out to Liverpool - all we needed was for them to make up for last seasons disgraceful performance against Chelsea which handed Chelsea the title by one point .

TRUE Red - 2010-11-08 13:46

Shankly's Kin - couldn't have said it any better ! El Nino, U DA MAN !
7 goals in 8 games against the Blues ! Was very impressed by the whole team, back to front, especially in the 1st half. Didn't like how RH invited them to attack us in the 2nd, but superb defending !
VERY happy Kelly, our lightie from the youth team / reserves got his chance - he & Pacheco are our best youngster's IMHO but are alienated compared to Ngog, Spearing, Shelvey, etc - he did an AMAZING job keeping Malouda & Cole at bay ! Now, we MUST win the next 3 before Spurs away, otherwise this means so much less. But into single digits we are - 9th ...

What a load of pool shhh - 2010-11-08 13:55

It's really funni how liverpool fans come out the cracks when their team wins the odd game. What does this win got to do with United anyway, it seems thats all you liverpoolians play for, to say something at Utd. Why don't liverpool supporters create an anti-united support club because that's all they good at, they actually don't support liverpool. and @ never walk alone... liverpool never came to anyone's aid but their own, it's either they won or stay in the relegation zone. If your team can't challenge for the title, leave your stupid comments at home and just enjoy the fact that liverpool never won the EPL for the past 20 odd years...

Never Walk Alone - 2010-11-08 14:09

@Wes - Lucas has had a few good games - problem - it wont last - he is not physical enough and is easily dispossed and muscled off the ball - lack of mongrel attitude in our midfield could still be our undoing as the season wears on. Still have my doubts that Lucas will be our saviour.

Soccer supporter - 2010-11-08 14:12

I think the United supporters want to believe that Ronaldo is not in Messi's class, thus they pounced on the 80mill transfer. We're talking about a former World Player of the year and most probably going to give Messi a massive run for the honour this year. It must be considered that there are "various" criteria that points out a players potential. Dribbling is just one of them ;-). Sorry also to burst the United bubble but the tide is turning. No more easy titles. It happened to Liverpool in the 80s and it will happen to the "mighty" Red devils.

Blues For Life - 2010-11-08 14:24

Chelsea deserved the loss and liverpool received the boost that they needed, I am a devoted Chelsea fan but needless to say we underperformed we suffered injury yes, but we should have played the way we did in the second half from word go! Drogba performed well and as usual he was not selfish with the ball and thats what alot of the Premiership players should learn from! The Shed is my home!!!! CHELSEA FOR LIFE!!!

AL @ Soccer supporter - 2010-11-08 15:23

Which tide are you talking about??? Last time I checked, UTD were still in ALL competitions and 2nd from the top.

Curious - 2010-11-08 16:26

This is not a snide remark or anything of that sort ( I would not dream of offending any of you sensitive chaps out there ) but , do any of the Chelsea supporters out there know whether Chelsea actually played in the Champions League prior to it becoming Chelski ?
Manchester United , Arsenal and Liverpool have a pedigree beyond question having won the League a total of 48 times between I think , but the newbies like Chelski and City seem to have none .
Even unfashionable Everton have 9 League titles to their name .
Makes one think , doesn't it ?
Take away the money and will they still have the character to win anything ?

Shankly's Kin - 2010-11-08 16:35

True Red, soooo right man. Where the hell is Dani? Last I heard, the reserve coach was saying something about Uncle Woy wanting to convert him into a winger. Why Woy? Why? He is a brilliant second striker. He thrives in that hole just off the main striker. I shudder to think how he could set Torres up. Pacheco has this ability to pull 2-3 players and create space for others. Use it Woy. It will be wasted out wide. Oh well, he is the gaffer. I also think we shoulda kept pressing, or at least tried to play some possession football, not just sit back and hoof balls up field. Guess old habits die hard. But at least Woy is getting there, judging by the 1st half.

IZ IT @ THE DEVIL - 2010-11-08 18:08

ITS AN EVEN CALL IN MY BOOKS.BUT AS FAR AS ROONEY IS CONCERNED HE ISNT GOOD ENOUGH TO POLISH GERRARDS BOOTS ! I CANT SHOUT MY MOUTH OFF TOO MUCH AS THE REDS HAVE ALONG WAY TO GO,BUT MY TEAM LOOKED WORLD CLASS IN THE FIRST HALF AND IF THEY CAN PLAY HALF THAT GOOD FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON...THE TOP 4 IS ON !

Bongani - 2010-11-09 04:33

When you join liverpool 2008 i was asking myself who is this player but you became my best striker even on ps2 you score 4rm tight angles nd your speed it is amazing thanks for bring joy wit the latest result of 2-0 keep it up

ChelseaNo1 - 2010-11-09 09:45

@curious
It is so sad when people that are jealous of the most consistent team in the Premier League ramble on about the biggest crap. Chelsea might be rich, but for how long have they fielded the same team now? Manchester City, and Manchester United, as well as Liverpool and Arsenal have made far more signings in the last couple of years than Chelsea. People say Chelsea have so much money, but they have been extremely reserved with it over the last few years. They initially signed some quality players, but so did a lot of the other top flight clubs. The lame excuse of them being so rich is really ticking me off. Where did all the quality, expensive players from all the other teams come from???? I wouldn't mind a new signing or two, but they have been very reserved with their money...
Get your facts straight before you sound like a stereotypical jealous idiot..

Never Walk Alone - 2010-11-09 10:51

@ ChelseaNo1 - Interesting that the top EPL money clubs are keen to sign our best players - ie Torres and Gerrard - and Ancellotti has openly admitted to it.
Be interesting to see if Torres is still at Liverpool come January - he has just made himself marketable once again to those who doubted his ability. Wheather the Benitez clone ( RH) or the new owners will convince them to stay - remains to be seen. Believe me LFC problems are a long way from being over - and unless money is spent on BETTER players we are going to continue to struggle to win the EPL for a long time to come. MU and Arsenal are competing favourably with a young "mediocre" teams - therefore it amazes me that LFC with more experienced players are making hard work of it ! Must be our crap choice of manager !!!

Pugsly - 2010-11-09 11:33

Chelsea are playing in the champions league eh? Have they won one? A certain "relegation candidate" has 5. Without winnig the EPL for 20 years there are still more trophies in the cabinet than any other side.

sheff - 2010-11-09 13:35

we back baby we back

Boeta Leau - 2010-11-09 16:36

Liverpool 4 life.not won the league in 20 years but still most successfull club in english soccer-GO POOOL-Top 4 here we come.